lol :-D. Its just that many people is see on F1 people seem to have an unhealty dislike to him. I think most of them are Hamilton fans, but I don’t understand why you have to like one person or another?

Yes I was confused about this topic, Keith… JB being the most popular driver here. And even as someone who’s not a McLaren fan Jenson is undeniably likeable and maybe he did get lucky with the Brawn in 09 but them’s the breaks.

I think it comes down to both Hamilton v. Button and Jenson’s radio feedback. Mind you, this place is generally civil, where people might say they think Hamilton is much better than Jenson and feel that Hamilton is the better driver, it’s not uncommon for people to call him a whiner or to get upset about his 2009 title.

Many Reason’s.
1. I have always found him to be quite egotistical and arrogant.
2. Very over-rated as a driver.
3.Got lucky during his championship season.
4. British media make him out to be perfect and worship him.
5.Played williams and honda against each other for his own benefit.
6.List goes on and on.

Another poster hit the nail on the head – Jenson embodies everything that went wrong with Hamilton’s career and McLaren’s performance over the past 4 years. Following on the heels of Hamilton’s stellar 2007 and 2008 seasons, Button literally stole the spotlight by joining Brawn and won the WDC in 2009. Then Button joined McLaren and that put a categorical end to McLaren’s ability to compete for the WDC and WCC. It’s a puzzle that remains unanswered and eventually forced Hamilton out of the team to a much lesser team.

It would be akin to Cesc Fàbregas joining Barcelona and eventually forcing Lionel Messi to join Valencia…

I agree with this thread, to some extent. I have read a lot of comments that are very negative about JB. Calling him a whiner, saying that he’s over-rated or that he doesn’t deserve to be in a top team etc. Despite him being statistically the the most liked driver on F1F.

I do really wonder why though, because to me, he is a great driver. I can admit, and I’m sure he can as well, that he is not the fastest driver on raw one lap pace, but no-one is ever gifted a World Championship. In my mind, he has proven to be a great driver on many occasions, and I truly believe that he can fight for the title this year, and win it.

In his early career, he was destroyed by the British press, who were very negative about him, but I don’t think we should forget that not only is he a World Champion, he also came third in 2004, in a year that Ferrari dominated, and of course came second to Vettel in 2011, a year in which he dominated.

He deserves to be in the same group of top drivers, as Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. I’ve said it many times here, that I don’t like Hamilton, but I can certainly admit that he is a very good driver, but I think it’s sad that a lot of Hamilton fans can’t admit that Jenson is too, albeit in a different way.

He deserves to be in the same group of top drivers, as Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton

No way, Button only occasionally puts in world-beating performances whilst Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel do it the vast majority of the time. Unless McLaren have made him a dominant car which caters to his style of driving, I can’t see him winning the championship at all. Button also occasionally has some horrible races were he is miles of his team-mate’s pace. I like Button (though I’m not fan of his) and I think he is a great driver in general, but he not on the same level as Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Vettel.

No way, Button only occasionally puts in world-beating performances whilst Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel do it the vast majority of the time. Unless McLaren have made him a dominant car which caters to his style of driving, I can’t see him winning the championship at all. Button also occasionally has some horrible races were he is miles of his team-mate’s pace. I like Button (though I’m not fan of his) and I think he is a great driver in general, but he not on the same level as Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Vettel.

What determines how often one has to put in a ‘world-beating’ performance, to be seen as a great, and what determines a ‘world-beating’ performance? Because in my mind, in the past two years, I don’t remember Hamilton putting in that many whatsoever, especially in comparison to the frequency that Alonso did last year, nor Vettel during the Asian stint last year, and of course the entirety of 2011.